Here’s mind-blowing proof that Germany can produce sparkling wines that can match high-end prestige cuvee champagnes! Spectacular aromatic complexity with notes of fresh yellow apple, dried pear, brioche and grilled...

(96+ points) The finest rendition since 2013, the 2016 Cristal has turned out beautifully. A vintage that Lecaillon describes as “difficult in the vineyards but beautiful in the cellar,” it had suffered slightly in...

The same blend as the Blanc but including 5% red wine from their La Côte aux Enfants parcel, the 2015 Champagne La Grande Année Brut Rosé is a lovely wine on the nose, and I think I might like it more than the Blanc in...

There is a wonderful biscuity aroma to this Pinot Noir-dominated Champagne. Named after the British war-time prime minister and an avid consumer of Champagne, the wine is mature, full of ripe yeasty flavors and...

(95+ points) More complex and spicier than its 2016 counterpart, the 2018 Extra-Brut Grand Cru Rive Gauche – Rive Droite offers up aromas of spices, toast, baked bread, white flowers and spring flowers. Medium to...

(96+ points) The finest rendition since 2013, the 2016 Cristal has turned out beautifully. A vintage that Lecaillon describes as “difficult in the vineyards but beautiful in the cellar,” it had suffered slightly in...

(94+ points) From a cool, late-ripening vintage that saw harvest extend into October—a year defined by relatively low temperatures yet enough sunshine—the 2013 Rare Millésime, released ahead of its 2012 counterpart, was...

The 2009 Brut Blancs de Blancs Louis Salmon is a rich, heady wine. In 2009, Billecart-Salmon opted not to use lots aged in oak, which, along with partially blocked malolactic fermentation, helps explain the wine's...

The 2007 Brut Cuvée Nicolas François continues to show beautifully, wafting from the glass with scents of sweet orchard fruit, citrus oil, clear honey, white flowers, buttery pastry and warm biscuits. Medium to...

Sleek and harmonious, with chiseled acidity and a satinlike mousse supporting a fine weave of poached apricot and cherry fruit, pickled ginger, pastry and macadamia nut flavors. Long and mouthwatering, with a clean sweep...

Sleek and harmonious, with chiseled acidity and a satinlike mousse supporting a fine weave of poached apricot and cherry fruit, pickled ginger, pastry and macadamia nut flavors. Long and mouthwatering, with a clean sweep...

(94+ points) From a bottle disgorged in March 2017, Bollinger's 2007 La Grande Année is showing brilliantly, offering up a superb bouquet of lemon oil, confit citrus, almond paste, iodine, walnut oil and freshly baked...

A vibrant, graceful Champagne that shows fine definition and integration, with a mouthwatering frame of acidity. The persistent, lacy mousse is enmeshed with an appealing range of ripe and juicy black cherry and...

Rich, with a well-spiced range of pineapple pâte de fruit, toasted brioche, lemon thyme, crystallized honey and grated ginger notes, this vibrant version is firmed by racy, seamlessly integrated acidity, swathed in a...

(91+ points) Produced on the foundation of the 2020 harvest and complemented by 30% reserve wines, Charles Heidsieck’s NV Blanc de Blancs (laid in chalk cellars in 2021) was disgorged at the end of 2023 with a dosage of...

Rich and decadent nose that shows dried apricots, dried lemons and pie crust. Caramel and sweet hazelnuts, too. Refined bubbles, a creamy texture and a crisp and lively finish. Drink or hold.

Rich and decadent nose that shows dried apricots, dried lemons and pie crust. Caramel and sweet hazelnuts, too. Refined bubbles, a creamy texture and a crisp and lively finish. Drink or hold.

The 2018 Blancs de Blancs is a Champagne of total pleasure. Citrus peel, orchard fruit and floral notes are very nicely delineated. The 2018 is an airy, breezy Champange, very much in the style of a vintage in which so...

The 2006 Dom Pérignon P2 is a total stunner. It's a vintage that seems to be especially suited to long aging. Everything about the 2006 is amplified. Its aromatics, fruit and structure are simply dazzling. The explosive...

The 2006 Dom Pérignon P2 is a total stunner. It's a vintage that seems to be especially suited to long aging. Everything about the 2006 is amplified. Its aromatics, fruit and structure are simply dazzling. The explosive...

The 2015 Dom Pérignon is super-expressive today. The first signs of aromatic development have begun to appear, suggesting the 2015 is slowly heading into its first plateau of maturity. Light tropical accents mingle with...

Coming from Verzy and made from equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the 2012 Champagne Montagne Grand Cru pours a medium straw hue with a hint of copper and takes things up a notch with its aromas of framboise...

Revisited after an additional year in bottle, the 2012 Brut Grand Cru Aÿ Argonne continues to show brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with notes of golden orchard fruit, dried citrus peel, tarte tatin, warm spices...

With a label designed by designer Philippe Starck, this Champagne has benefitted from its aging that has softened the wine's natural dryness and given it maturity and a light biscuit flavor. It is a fully balanced wine...

I thought the 2012s would be a good place to start this lunch, as the wines have always been quite open and seductive. That is very much the case today. The 2012 Cristal is quite delicate and floral, with hints of pear...

The 2014 Cristal is a dark horse, a wine built along linear lines rather than opulence, and from a year that generated very little enthusiasm at the time. A cold, wet summer and attacks from the Suzuki fly at harvest were...

I have tasted the 2015 Cristal three times so far. Those tastings paint a portrait of a complex Champagne that is still finding its center. Tasted at the maison, the 2015 is rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous...

Magnums of Cristal are always released a few years after the original wine in bottle. This is subtle yet complex, with cranberry and apple aromas and flavors, as well as plenty of minerals and subtle bread-dough and...

The 2014 Champagne Cristal Rosé is much more open and generous, with brothy and briny elements like an ocean breeze. Coming from two plots of Chardonnay and two plots of Pinot Noir, it has a very natural and ripe, floral...

This rosé is a light tawny-gold hue in the glass, with a gossamer feel to the mouthwatering acidity. There’s a crystalline lattice supporting flavors of dried cherry and blood orange pâte de fruit alongside savory white...